What A Starry Night
by Ballad of the Fool
Summary: Tonight was the night of the Star Festival, and Jill was going to be spending it with Gustafa. Only probably was that she wanted to bring something to celebrate with. She goes to get a bottle of wine, but get caught up at the bar.


**Authors note**: Zomg, guys. It's been forever since I last posted a story on here. I am oh-so-sorry about basically leaving you all. I got so caught up in my real life that I didn't have any time to write anything new. D= But I'm sure that you guys will be excited to know that I started up a sequel to "**Beauty and the Beast**." ;D I started writing it a few weeks ago and I hope to have the first chapter up soon so all of you be sure to watch out for that. =3

So yeah, I wrote this for a contest on a forum that I'm a member of, _Harvest Dreams_. I'm a lover of Harvest Moon so I just had to write this, because I'm in love with Griffin. XD I hope you all enjoy this.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything. Harvest Moon belongs to Natsume.

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The air was so crisp and fresh. But that was only expected since it was the 24th of winter. But what a night is was, or at least it was going to be. She had all of her plans made and official. This festival was going to be so much fun and to make everything so much better; Jill was going to be spending it with her biggest crush ever, Gustafa. She was only too excited when he had invited her back to his house yesterday for tonight. Jill never really thought upon how she found the man attractive, maybe it was his love for music or nature. It could have been anything, but that didn't really matter to Jill at that moment because she was going to be with Gustafa under the stars! The female let out a cute giggle from just the thought of them, possibly holding hands under the pale light of the moon and the glittery stars while he murmured sweet lyrics of a song he recently wrote, whether or not it be for her or whatever. A dream sigh escaped from her lips. She couldn't wait.

The only thing was; she wanted to bring something to celebrate with.

She walked out of her home with her pale blue scarf around her neck and a light jacket hugging her torso. She made sure that the door was locked before she left and began to walk from her property. But what could she bring? The supermarket was closed for the past few days for some odd reason, something about a honeymoon or whatever. She furrowed her brows together in thought as she glanced around the valley for a quick moment. She gasped lightly, having a moment of brilliance. She could bring some wine from the bar! Griffin could sell her a bottle of his wine, right? She would pay for it, she didn't really care about the cost. For an evening with Gustafa? She would probably pay anything… Well maybe. With that decision made, her hustled feet made their way towards the bar.

"Please let the door be unlocked. Please the door be unlocked." Jill mumbled under her breath as she took hold of the handle within her hand and weakly pulled it open. She grinned so widely that it appeared like it could have actually been too large to even fit on her own face.

And of course, sitting behind the bar, polishing a little glass or two was the owner of the bar, Griffin. At the sound of the door opening, Griffin perked up a single bushy brow, only moving his eyes towards the source of the disturbance. He smiled ever so weakly when he saw the familiar face of Jill. "Evenin', Jill." He spoke weakly. She smiled and nodded, "You know that the bar's closed for the night, right? It's the Star Festival."

Jill nodded yet again, "Yeah, I know. But I was wondering if I could buy a bottle of wine off of ya'." Jill told him. Griffin perked up a brow once more.

"Celebrating by yourself?"

"What about you?"

Griffin wasn't exactly prepared for her returned question. He glanced away from her for a moment, "Actually, Muffy and I were supposed to have a little party." Jill snickered. Griffin shook his head and continued, "She's running a little behind, as you can tell." Jill merely nodded and there was a silence between the two before Jill pulled out a bar stool and quietly sat upon it. Of course, there was a small part of her that would have felt terrible if she had just left Griffin during the festival that should be spent with someone. '_You know what?_' She thought, '_I'll just stay until Muffy gets back. Then I'll rush over to Gustafa's_.'

"You said you needed a bottle of wine?" Griffin questioned her, setting down the glass and the polishing rag.

Jill merely nodded, "Yeah, but I'm in no rush." She smiled weakly. The older brunette male nodded and reached under the counter as he felt around for a bottle of wine.

"Do you want anything to drink? It's on the house tonight." He told her, she only responded by shrugging her shoulders as he placed the glass bottle upon the counter

"Surprise me." They both let out a soft chuckle while a, barely noticeable, smirk grew upon Jill's lips. He nodded and walked over to the other side of the bar where all of his main liquors were upon display. A moment or two passed by and he returned back in front of Jill, placing a dark colored drink in front of her. "Which one's this?" She questioned, perking up a thin brow of hers.

"A good one. Stone Oil." He told her as she questionable lifted up the glass. "Not much a drinker, are you?" He spoke as he quietly noted her actions. She chuckled weakly,

"I usually only drink on special occasions."

"Well, this is a special occasion, isn't it?" He attempted at a joke, "Go ahead and drink up." Jill quietly let out a weak sigh as she took the liquor into her mouth and swallowed the oddly tasting liquid. She smiled towards the glass and Griffin chuckled at her expression, "I'll take it that you liked it."

"Can I have another?" Jill quickly asked. Griffin smiled and nodded,

"Sure why not. There aren't that many special festivals every season." So of course, he poured her another glass. Then another. And of course, one more. She went to question him for another but he cut her off. "So how is life on that farm anyway?"

Jill paused to think about it for a moment, and made it quite clear about her thought as she tapped her index finger to her chin, "Well, it's okay. A lot of hard work, ya' know. Taking care of the animals, watering the crops. It may not seem like hard work, but it is." She told him, resting her elbow upon the shiny bar counter, pressing her cheek against the palm of her hand. Griffin nodded,

"It does sound like hard work."

"What about you? How's the bar life treating you?" She questioned him absent-mindedly. He merely shrugged, picking up the bottle of wine he had placed upon the counter before an examined it. It was a good year and a good brand, just like every other bottle of wine in that bar. He placed it down in front of her again.

"What were your plans for this evening anyway?" He questioned her.

"I was going to go to Gustafa's." She answered simply with a weak smile.

"Well, why didn't you just go now?"

"I didn't want to leave you by yourself."

Was that a hint of a blush upon the bartender's face? Jill let out a soft giggle. "Oh, thanks." He responded back. Jill merely kept the smile on her face. Griffin glanced towards the clock against the wall for a moment then glanced back towards Jill. "It's getting late…" He mumbled, she never responded. But another growing silence between the two as he spoke once again, "Would you like to go look at the stars?" He offered. Jill had to think about this for a moment. She really wanted to look at the stars tonight with Gustafa but she would have felt terrible if she just left Griffin by himself. She could remember the times when she was younger when she was forced to spend the festival by herself, terribly lonesome. It would be no harm, right?

Jill smiled, "Sure." With that said, she stood up from the bar stool and walked towards the door, waiting for Griffin as he came from behind the counter. Unexpectedly, Griffin had opened the door for the woman, which actually did surprise her. She let out a soft giggle and smiled, mumbling a soft, "Thank you." What a gentleman he was.

What a sight this was. The ground was covered in snow and the sky was showered with the sparkling lights of the stars. "It's so pretty out." She spoke. Griffin only nodded and placed his hands into his pockets. She quietly walked away from him, just a foot or two. He seemed like he didn't even notice.

"This place seems so different when covered in snow, don't you think?" He spoke softly.

"Yes, it is." Jill said. She waited until he was completely turned around and bent down. She scooped up a handful of snow and forced it into a snowball. She smirked to herself and straightened up. She threw the snowball at the back of his head and giggled.

"What the hell was that!?" Griffin called out after being hit. Little did he know that Jill was behind it all… Or at least until he noticed her giggling. "You're the one that did it, huh?"

Jill couldn't help but laughed at his outburst. "Me?" She questioned innocently. "Couldn't possibly be me." She spoke once more, scooping up another ball of snow and threw it at him. "Now that one was me." She smirked.

Griffin was actually able to dodge the snowball that Jill threw at him this time. "Oh, so it _was_ you, huh? I'll get you for that!" Digging into the snow and following Jill's movements, he made a snowball and threw it back at the female. The war continued back and forth against each other until Griffin, somehow, managed to trip over something that was buried in the snow and Jill tripped over him, landing on top of him. Of course, they both were laughing hysterically until the both realized their position. She was basically lying on top of him.

Unable to speak, Jill quickly rose off of him and blushed profusely. "I… I should be going." She mumbled, "I'm sorry." With Griffin still on the ground, but at least sitting up now, he merely looked up at her.

"It's alright." He spoke, but she had already turned the other way and was walking off towards the bard's yurt. Griffin sighed and shook his head. Slowly, he stood up from the ground, wiping the snowflakes from his sleeves. He went back inside the bar and sat down on the bar stool. He took the bottle of wine back into his hands and sighed.

Maybe next year he would ask her to watch the stars with him again.


End file.
